Nikolay Koblyakov

Nikolay Koblyakov (russian language: Николай Кобляков) is a Russian anti-Putin activist. From 1 August to ? November 2014, he was detained in Bulgaria, awaiting extradition to Russia, but extradition was refused by the Bulgarian authorities. His case has been compared to that of Baha Kimyongür, the subject of a Turkish Red Notice, who was detained for six months before being freed on the grounds that the notice was abusive.

Biography

Koblyakov is a graduate of the London School of Economics; upon returning to Russia he created a chain of care homes for the elderly, which proved profitable. He was ousted from business by competitors who were backed by the Putin regime. Upon this, he established himself in Paris, where he was a founding member of Russie-Libertés, an NGO campaigning for Russian democracy. On 1 September 2014, he was put under house arrest. Koblyakov described the Russian dossier which he was presented as "a story which happened to be the fiction mixed of the real facts and of the totally invented events."

On 3 September 2014, there was a request for Nikolay to be Extradited but Bulgaria has refused under the terms provided. When it was rejected he requested political asylum in order to not be put in a regular prison

On 11 June 2015, Koblyakov was arrested in Paris because of the renewed extradition request from Moscow and forbidden to leave France.

On 8 July 2015, INTERPOL deleted a Red Notice in Koblyakov's name as they concluded that the request by the Russian Federation was politically motivated and that the execution of the warrant would jeopardise his human rights.

On November 4, 2015 the Tribunal of Paris rejected the extradition to Russia of Nikolai Koblyakov.